Alabama appeals court rules on death penalty cases

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals is throwing out one inmate’s death sentence and upholding another.

The judges on Friday upheld James Osgood’s capital murder conviction and death sentence in the slaying of Tracy Brown in Chilton County in 2010. But the court threw out the sentence, ruling that a judge gave improper instructions to jurors.

Brown was found stabbed to death in her home.

The court separately upheld the conviction and death sentence of Jessie Livell Phillips from Marshall County. He was convicted of killing his wife Erica Phillips and their unborn child in 2009.

The court previously told a court to prepare a new sentencing order for Phillips, and it did. The appeals court says it now agrees with the lower court and upheld the sentence.